The Play-Doh Brain: How Shapeable Neurons Help You Learn and Remember

Abstract

Imagine that your mom just baked a pizza, and you immediately take a bite of it. Bad choice—it is really hot, and you burn your tongue! You learn a lesson from this experience, but what is happening in your brain? When the burning sensation reaches the brain, some brain cells, called neurons, become active and communicate with each other. Thanks to a process called synaptic plasticity, neurons can increase the strength of their communication and store new information. The next time your mom prepares pizza, the same neurons that were active the first time will start talking again, and you will know to wait for it to cool down before taking a bite. In this article, we will describe some properties of neurons and what happens to these cells when you create new memories. We hope that you will learn something new and share it with your friends, as neurons would do!